§ 7. Mr. O'LEARYasked by what right or title the Irish Land Commission demands payment of tithe-rent charges from the occupying tenants on the Skean Islands, near Aughadown, Skibbereen, having regard to the fact that their holdings have been purchased under the Land Acts, which require holdings to be vested in the tenants in fee simple discharged from superior interests which, after the sale, attach to the purchase money of the holdings?
§ Mr. DUKEThe Island of Skean West, to which I assume the question refers, was sold through the Landed Estates Court to Daniel and Patrick O'Regan, the then tenants of the lands, in 1875, for £625, in respect of which purchase a loan of £393 was obtained from the Board of Works under the purchase provisions of the Landlord and Tenant (Ireland) Act, 1870. The tithe rent-charge, amounting to £2 14s. 10d. per annum, is now payable by Thomas and Mary O'Regan, the representatives of the purchasers of 1875, who have a tithable estate in the lands. The hon. Member is possibly under some misapprehension as to the provisions of the recent Land Purchase Acts with regard to the redemption of superior interests. They do not affect holdings acquired by tenants under the purchase provisions of the Act of 1870.